The Dinosaur Trail !

After the business of the last few weeks we decided to relax for a few days, and what better place to do that than Julia Creek. 

This town has organised a wonderful spot on the edge of town for self contained vehicles with a man made waterhole and some shade trees. You could walk in to town if you liked where there was all the basics you needed. The tourist information centre had photo displays with quite a lot of videos about local life and history.... a great place to get out of the heat. We also spent the afternoons at the local pool, at only $2.50 an adult.

The Dinosaur Trail incorporates the towns of Richmond, Hughenden and Winton in a triangular drive. George was in his element ! !

First stop was Richmond and Kronosaurus Korner.

 A very well presented display of information, fossils and replicas of different dinosaurs including the  Kronosaurus, Pterasaurus, and marine reptile fossils found in the local area. The centre also has a modern fully equipped preparation facility.

Below: a Minmi, an armoured dinosaur
And the Richmond Pliosaur discovered in 1989, the best example discovered in the world.

Below : an Ichthyosaur, the fossil bones were displayed in the case beneath.
And a Kronosaurus

Hughenden is known for The Flinders Discovery Centre .

 Over 3000 fossil specimens from the Cretacious period have been found in the surrounding district, including theMuttaburrasaurus, Hughenden Sauropod, Queensland Pterosaur and a large selection of Ammonites, shells, molluscs and fish (found also at Richmond). 

Below : a Queensland Pterosaur

And the Comet Windmills, the largest made.

 Our final stop was Winton which has The Age of Dinosaurs Museum and Lark Quarry.

Lark Quarry Conservation Park is situated about 110kms west of Winton on a mixed bitumen and dirt road. It is home to the Dinosaur Stampede, where over 3,300 tracks mark the only known dinosaur stampede in the world. Hundreds of tracks from a preditory dinosaur chasing 2 other groups of smaller dinosaurs led to scientists piecing together an amazing tale of the hunted and hunter.
On a previous trip George had missed out as we did not fancy taking the bus out. 

On this occasion we planned to do a 300 km round trip on the dirt roads and incorporate Old Cork Station into the day trip as well.

The photos do not do it justice. 

Photo looking up towards the building which houses/protects the footprints. Over the years much damage to the site has been caused by weather elemnts, people and animals. It is now housed in this temperature controlled environment. 

The photos and comment on the second part of our daytrip to Old Cork Station will be included in the next blogpost.

Lynne